The Media Industry Development Authority will now look over the role of the media in Fiji. Photo: RONALD KUMAR

By FONUA TALEI

Fiji’s very own media monitoring organisation, the Fiji Media Watch (FMW) has welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to lift the Public Emergency Regulation (PER) this Saturday, December 7. The lifting of the PER will also mean that media censorship will cease.

Director FMW Agatha Ferei said the move is a great way to begin the New Year as many people were happy about the decision made.
“FMW is generally very happy about the announcement to lift the PER and we welcome it. This will enable reporters to work freely without censorship issues,” Ms Ferei said.
“It is too early for us to know whether this will change the way stories are reported, but however it goes, we hope that reporters will stick to providing balanced stories and uphold the media’s code of ethics.”
Ms Ferei mentioned the organisation’s in-house activities which involved monitoring various media organisations to determine the level of balance in stories reported.
“We will continue to monitor the news provided by media outlets and we look forward to continuing our work.”
The Media Decree and the Media Authority will ensure that reporters continue to be responsible in compiling balanced stories after media censorship stops.